Kate BushThe Sensual World (Columbia) (STAR)(STAR)(STAR)If Bush...

Greg KotCHICAGO TRIBUNE

Kate Bush

The Sensual World (Columbia) (STAR)(STAR)(STAR)

If Bush sounds a tad more accessible these days, it`s probably because pop radio has finally caught up with her (thanks to such like-minded artists as Peter Gabriel and Brian Eno). Though Bush has a sweet soprano, she`s more of a seductress than a singer, even when the topic isn`t love or romance. In the grand tradition of Sinatra, Elvis and Al Green, she knows she doesn`t have to shout to make her point. Just listen to the way she whispers and breathes into the microphone on this record`s title cut, as if she and the listener were the only people left in the world. Add to that an exotic mix of instruments-uillean pipes, bouzouki, David Gilmour`s guitar, the surreal harmonies of the Trio Bulgarka, airy layers of keyboards-and you have a record that more than delivers on the promise of its title.